Brisbane, Australia (AP) — Australia once again finds itself in a must-win Women’s World Cup game when the Matildas face Denmark on Monday in the round of 16.
“This is do or die now,” said Australia goalie Mackenzie Arnold. “Historically, we’ve always really performed well with our backs against the wall.”
Denmark finished second in Group D behind winner England, and only allowed one goal over three games of group play. Australia, meanwhile, hasn't had the smoothest tournament so far; a 4-0 win over Canada was in a game the Matildas had to win to avoid elimination.
Australia was last in the knockout stage of the World Cup in 2019 when the Matildas lost to Norway on penalty kicks. Now they face a Denmark team that has used stout defense and has forward Pernille Harder, who has scored 71 goals in her international career. Harder scored on a penalty kick against Haiti in Tuesday’s final game of group play.
“Denmark have a lot of quality players all over the pitch and world-class in their final third,” Matildas’ defender Clare Polkinghorne said. “It’s definitely going to be a tough job for us to keep them contained, but I think as the games go on, obviously, your defense is going to be key.”
The match is the second time Denmark and Australia will play in a year; the Matildas earned their first win ever over the Danes in a 3-1 friendly played Viborg, Denmark, last October.
“We played them last year, and they started really fast,” Polkinghorne said. “They like to attack, to get forward. We’re definitely going to have to be on our game to nullify that.”
Both teams had two shutouts each in group play and the Matildas are preparing for the possibility of another penalty-kick shootout in the round of 16. Australia would rely heavily on Arnold, who won the starting goalkeeper role earlier this year.
“Maccas is in the form of her career,” Polkinghorne said. “She has belief in herself and confidence in herself, which we all had in her, that she was probably lacking herself. I’m really, really proud of how far she’s come.”
The win over Canada bought Australia star striker Sam Kerr another week to recover from the calf injury that kept her out of the group stage.
“She has her own individual plan that she’s doing with the doctor,” Arnold said. “She looked like she was quite comfortable doing it. And she was in high spirits after the game, so I assume it all went well.”
Even with Kerr sidelined against Canada, the Matildas produced their best offensive performance. Hayley Raso’s double showcased the team has a deep range of players to fill Kerr's void.
“It just goes to show how our other attacking options have really stepped up and taken their opportunity,” Polkinghorne said. “If they cover one of the strikers, then we’ve got someone else to step up and take the game.”
Polkinghorne said the team embraces the pressure and plays its best in must-win games.
“Being Australian athletes, we’ve got that in our DNA,” Polkinghorne said. “As a team, we almost like when our backs’ against the wall and the pressure is on us a little bit.”
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Luke Winstel is a student at the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
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AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup
